Vegan Green Bean Casserole With Crispy Oven-Baked Onions

April 7, 2017

Today I’m offering you an upgraded version of the traditional green bean casserole. It’s vegan, much healthier jet more delicious that the original recipe. You can serve it on Thanksgiving or any other holiday (or any random day). This vegan green bean casserole is absolutely delicious, super creamy and the baked onions…Well, don’t be surprised if you eat them alone and they don’t even make to the top of casserole.

Green bean casserole is a traditional Thanksgiving dish in the United States. It’s originally made from green beans, mushroom soup, and French fried onions.

I’ve made quite a lot of tweaks to get out the best of this recipe. First, I didn’t use canned mushroom soup; I made my own sauce instead. To do that, I baked whole mushrooms and made a creamy sauce using chickpea flour and oat milk (it works like magic).

Second, I didn’t deep-fry the onions – this process requires a huge amount of vegetable oil that’s thrown away afterward. Also, I didn’t coat the onions in conventional flour. Instead, I baked the onions in the oven and coated them in chickpea flour. You’ll get much healthier onion rings that are extra crispy, protein-rich and gluten free. Oh, yes.

This vegan green bean casserole is nutritious too. Green beans are loaded with fiber and protein, but low in fat. They’re a good source of vitamins A, C and K and minerals like calcium, iron, and manganese. But mushrooms stands out with their ability to produce vitamin D when they’re exposed to sunlight. As vitamin D is essential for strong teeth and bones, all vegans should eat mushrooms on a daily basis (and have a 15-minute walk in the sun every day!).

To make the crispy onions, thinly slice the onions into rings and soak them in the oat milk for 10 minutes. While the onions are soaking, mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl – chickpea flour, salt, pepper, and turmeric.

Preheat the oven to 200C and lay a baking sheet with baking paper. Remove onion slices from the oat milk (save the milk – you can use it for casserole). With you hands, toss and coat the onions with spiced chickpea flour mixture. Spread the onion rings on the baking paper, put into the oven and bake for 10 to 15 minutes until lightly golden. They burn easily (trust me, I know) so keep an eye on them! If there are any burned and black parts, remove them.

To make the bean casserole, heat a large pan to medium heat, add coconut oil. Finely chop onion and garlic and saute in the pan for 2 minutes. Add salt, pepper, and oregano. Mix in well. Add chopped mushrooms and saute for 4 minutes.

Now let’s make the sauce. Add chickpea flour to the mushrooms and stir to coat for 1 minute. Then slowly start to add oat milk while continuously stirring. Add nutritional yeast, salt, and pepper. Stir well to get rid of any lumps. When the chickpea flour fully dissolves, the sauce should be thick and creamy.

Add thawed green beans. If you’re using fresh green beans, lightly cook them in a boiling water for 3 to 5 minutes until tender-crisp. Then add them to the casserole. Stir well until all beans are covered with the sauce. Saute everything for 2 more minutes – and then it’s ready!

Sprinkle crispy onions on the casserole – you can do it directly in the pan or when serving the dish.